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TIL Orcas (“killer whales”) comes from the name Orcinus, which means "of the kingdom of the dead", or "belonging to Orcus".

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vd9K TIL that despite fighting against Nazi troops, with 17,000 dying in combat, Colonial French (Black) troops were not allowed to liberate Paris because of their skin colour. To ensure that a French regiment was allowed to liberated Paris, De Gaulle was forced to use Spanish (white) soldiers
OoWM7 TIL the US agriculture industry was using an arsenic additive for chicken feed up until 2011, and at its peak 1000 tons of it were produced every year. The FDA finally banned its use in 2015, four years after the industry stopped using it.
GYVl1 TIL that during the 1908 Olympics in London, the Russians showed up 12 days late due to the fact that they were using the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
GAL55 TIL about the Candy Desk in the US Senate, a tradition where one of the desks is filled with candy from the Senator’s home state for the members of the Senate to partake of
J1PwQ Today I learned of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles (ramen noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.